


Liam Dunbar's Guide to Ignoring Theo Raeken

by AngryCanadian14



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adopted Theo Raeken, Alternate Universe, Human AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:13:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23906716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngryCanadian14/pseuds/AngryCanadian14
Summary: Theo has been tormenting Liam for years. No matter what Liam did, Theo always found a way to make fun of him. Of course, Theo being his best friend’s brother didn’t really help.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 16
Kudos: 124





	1. Theo Raeken-McCall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo gets adopted and gets two brothers out of it

Theo Raeken-McCall was about as much of an asshole as a teenage boy could be. Liam had learned from years of torment from him that he was and always would be an asshole, despite losing his entire family in the span of a night from a car crash. Regardless of the accident, Liam had thoughts of strangling the other boy frequently. Theo was eight when it happened, it was obvious that Theo would be taken in by either the McCalls or Stilinskis. But the debate was almost immediately quashed when Claudia started to fall ill.

Theo moved in with the McCalls a week before his ninth birthday freshly signed adoption papers framed on the kitchen island. The official papers didn’t seem to matter much when Theo was already part of their little family. When Stiles was able to, between being with his sick mother or helping his dad around the house as best as he could. He would be at the McCall house, chasing Theo and Scott around the yard, even when they both started wheezing from both laughter and mutual issues of asthma attacks. Theo still had the bad days when he didn’t want to get out of his new bed and leave his freshly painted room. No matter how much Scott or Melissa coaxed him.

But as the time went on Theo’s bad days became far and few in between. Stiles spent more time with them when Claudia died, not wanting to go home to his face his father’s drinking issues. They joked about getting bunk beds so they could all have sleepovers in the same room. They piled blankets and sleeping bags in the living room and pretended to have campouts. After the actual camp out in the backyard that ended in the boys screaming and waking up nearly half the neighborhood when they swore up and down there had been a set of glowing eyes near their tent. Theo grew up along Scott and Stiles, the three boys wreaking havoc as they went. The neighborhood used to the laughter and screams that accompanied them where they went. As they grew older, the three spent less time playing make-believe about supernatural creatures in the backyard and more time in the McCall house basement playing video games or being subjected to Stiles’ Star Wars marathons.

When they hit middle school, Melissa and John standing by their cars s the three boys had insisted, Theo didn’t have most of the same classes that Scott and Stiles shared. It led him to make friends with somewhat outcasts Tracy and Josh who he shared his first-period class with, it started out just because he didn’t have his brother or best friend, but then out of real enjoyment when he found he shared many hobbies and interest the pair had. Scott and Stiles stuck together, but Theo started to branch out, much to Melissa’s delight at finally having a young girl as one of her children’s friends when she had been raising two boys by herself.

Middle school came and went and Theo, Stiles, and Scott became high schoolers. Melissa had cried the night before while on the phone with Jonh asking how her boys had grown up so fast, and how they needed to stop. Theo still had Tracy and Josh. Stiles and Scott had each other. Due to Stiles’ clumsiness and total lack of bodily control, he’d nearly caused Lydia Martin to fall down a set of stairs, for some unknown reason, she joined Scott and Stiles’ ragtag crew, later joined by Kira and Malia. And Liam and Mason the next year.

Theo’s own group extended when they became sophomores and Tracy decided Hayden was going to be their new friend. Hayden had reluctantly become their friend, more out of curiosity of Josh and Tracy’s constant bickering then real interest in friendship. Corey came next, jumpy and skittish at first. The Theo, Scott, and Stiles trio had dissolved more or less, leaving the two groups. Liam didn’t know all that much about Theo when he first started hanging out with Scott, other than he was his brother. But he quickly learned that Theo was a _massive_ jerk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the start and background, hoping to get a real chapter out soon :)


	2. In Which Liam Makes a Terrible Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott can’t order pizza and Liam regrets becoming friends with Scott and Stiles

Liam was in a heated debate with Stiles on the McCall couch, waiting for the rest of their friends when someone shoved his head so far down he felt his neck pop and his chin hit his sternum. He knew exactly who the culprit of the attack was. Liam whipped his head up and smacked at Theo’s retreating form, missing every attempted hit as Theo dodged them and snickered. Obviously happy with his small act of childishness that Liam had reacted to. Liam huffed and turned back to Stiles who rolled his eyes.

  
“Nice Theo,” Stiles snorted.

  
Liam shot him a look over his shoulder, his neck tweaked with the sudden turn, slightly achy from the forceful chiropractic movement Theo had taken upon himself to inflict on Liam. Theo smirked, a small upturn in the corner of his lips. Liam scowled and turned back to Stiles. He put up with Theo, but only because he was Scott’s brother and Stiles had some strange sense of respect for the other teen. Theo had his own set of friends, he usually never brought them around the house, at least while Liam was there. He’d only seen glimpses of them at lunch or in the hall at school, and only because Theo usually hip-checked him into a locker, shoved his head down or tugged on the back of his shirt and laughed at him as he walked away. Josh, Tracy, Corey, or Hayden trailing behind him in an ever-changing game of following the leader friends edition. Liam scowled at the thought, briefly forgetting his conversation with Stiles.

  
“Liam,” Stiles said, snapping his fingers to gain Liam’s attention back from his thoughts.

  
“Sorry,” Liam muttered.

  
Liam watched Stiles open his mouth to no doubt spill some psychoanalysis about Liam’s train of thought plummeting into a river from a broken bridge. Liam wasn’t ready for another one of Stiles’ deep conversations about some topic Liam usually lost track of after the first few sentences of word vomit Stiles spilled out on one of his rants, only stopping when he realized Liam was no longer listening. Launching into another just a moment later, starting a cycle of Liam losing his mind.  
Liam thanked whatever potential greater power there was when the door opened and Stiles turned his body in a way that had Liam concerned for Stiles’ spine. Lydia, a hand still on the doorknob, stopped to look at Stiles, Malia bummed into her slightly as she stopped so suddenly. Lydia raised an eyebrow at Stiles, apparently also concerned for his body with the way it was twisted.

  
“Hey Lyds,” Stiles said.

  
“Hello Stiles, is your back broken yet?” She stepped past the door jam and walked to join them in the living room. Malia shut the door behind her and flopped down beside Lydia.

  
Liam rolled his eyes at the fact that they had almost all beaten Scott to his own house. Of course, Stiles had a key, the acquisition of said key was unknown. Liam didn’t know if Melissa knew or not, or was just used to Stiles practically living in her house. Scott has said he’d be there in ten minutes almost a half-hour ago. Liam had been listening to Stiles rant about werewolves for twenty minutes and Liam was so thankful for the arrival of the girls that he could almost cry.

“Funny,” Stiles said. Liam watched him turn back around and he was pretty sure he heard a few things crack. Stiles’ wince told him he was correct.  
“Theo where’s your brother?” Malia asked.

  
Liam startled slightly when he felt Theo lean his hands on the back of the couch, almost where Liam’s shoulders were resting. He hadn’t even realized Theo was there. He looked up and Theo looked down at him with one eyebrow raised, the small uptick in the corner of his mouth already in place. Theo looked back to Malia and Liam blinked away from looking at the side of his face.

  
“How should I know?”

  
“Dude,” Stiles sighed, “you live with the guy.”

  
“Do I look like a babysitter to you?”

  
“No. Just an asshole,” Stiles snipped back.

  
Liam sighed, waiting for the eventual explosive reaction Stiles would have when Theo snarked back. Liam guessed from years of experience with Stiles, Theo knew just what buttons to press. The door opened and Liam thanked higher power again when Scott rushed in with an apologetic smile.

  
“Sorry, sorry, got sidetracked.” Scott walked past Theo and gave him a quick pat to the shoulder.

  
“Theo was entertaining us,” Stiles gave a scowl to Theo, who smiled with too many teeth and flipped him off when Scott turned his back to him.  
Stiles flipped him off with both hands and Liam wondered how he was graduating that year. Scott sat down between Stiles and Liam, Stiles flailed to try and move his legs so they wouldn’t be crushed by Scott’s weight. It caused him to smack his elbow against the armrest. No one paid him any attention.

  
“Where’s Mason?” Scott asked.

  
“Dude, we literally talked about this two hours ago.”

  
Liam rolled his eyes. “He’s on a date.”

  
“Oh, right,” Scott said.

  
Liam heard Theo snort from where he was still leaning against the couch. Theo had a habit of crashing their hangouts, usually with snarky comments in passing on the way to the kitchen to rile Stiles up in a way only he could then disappear to his room so Stiles was left to seeth in anger in silence. Liam wasn’t used to him just hovering, it made him twitchy.

  
While Theo liked to rile Stiles up, he just liked to make fun of Liam. He’d harass him about his love life, lacrosse skills, or anything he could think of. He would bump into Liam to make him mess up during their extremely competitive Mario Kart tournaments. He would sneak up behind Liam when they were watching scary movies and whisper boo. One time he’d scared Liam so bad he’d fallen from the couch and hit his elbow on the edge of the coffee table and had split the skin open and nearly stained the McCall living room rug. Liam didn’t know exactly why Theo liked to torment him. But he tried his best to avoid Theo and any possible interaction with the other teen. Despite his best efforts, Theo always seemed to find a way to make fun of Liam.

  
“Let’s order pizza,” Stiles said.

  
“Yeah totally,” Scott reached for his phone.

  
Liam and Stiles both dived for it when Scott finally wrestled the device from his pocket. Scott’s ability to order pizza had left them with some interesting pizzas. The group had unanimously agreed to never let Scott order pizza again. Stiles got to the item before Liam did, twisting his body away from in a movement similar to how he had before. Liam was left scrambling to get out of the way.

  
“Hey!” Scott reached for his phone. Stiles kept it out of Scott’s hands by use of his lanky and long limbs.  
Scott nearly crushed Liam as he tossed his body forward to get to Stiles. Liam yelped as an elbow was planted into his kidney.  
“Stiles come on!” Scott cried.

  
“No way man! You have no clue how to properly order a pizza.”

  
Liam tried to free his body but it only drove Scott’s elbow further into his kidney and Stiles’ knee into his rib cage. Liam contemplated the choices that led him to become friends with complete children. He’d gotten more injuries from being friends with Stiles and Scott than he had in his entire history of lacrosse. It was worse when Malia decided to join and then all three of them would be sporting bruises.

  
“I can order a pizza!” Scott argued.

  
“Unfortunately,” Lydia sighed, resigned to watch after years of being friends with them. “You really can’t. And move before you accidentally kill Liam.”

  
Scott and Stiles both moved away quickly at the realization that Liam was crushed between them. Liam sat up and groaned, he was sure there’d be a bruise from Scott.  
“Sorry man,” Scott said, sheepish smile plastered to his face.

  
“Next time I get the phone and Stiles gets to be crushed.” Liam huffed as he rubbed at his ribs where Stiles’ bones knee had been.

  
“I’ll order and pay if you stop acting like idiots,” Lydia motioned for Stiles to hand her Scott’s phone. Her own left on the table next to her purse.

  
“No promises,” Stiles grinned and tossed Scott’s phone to Lydia.

  
“Do you want my pa-“ Scott stopped when Lydia unlocked his phone with ease and went about finding the pizza places number. “I’m not even going to question that,” Scott turned to face Stiles. “Mario Kart?”

  
“Yes, but no rainbow road.”

  
“Liam’s the one who can’t do rainbow road,” Malia grumbled as she reached for the controllers placed on the entertainment center.

  
“It’s not my fault! You guys cheat.” Liam huffed and crosses his arms. Untucking then to accept the controller Malia handed him.

  
“Or,” Theo said, causing Liam to jump slightly, having forgotten he was there, “you’re just really bad at it.”

  
“You’re an asshole you know that right?” Stiles asked with a smile.

  
“Is that the only insult you can come up with?” Theo smirked.

  
Liam wanted to punch the smirk off his face so he’d stop looking so damn smug all the time. Theo was quite possibly the most infuriating person Liam had ever met, aside from his old neighbor who had run over his bike and insisted he hadn’t ruined the bike, even though there had been bright red paint on his bumper from the bike.  
Liam scowled and ignored Theo’s comment. If he’d just go away like he normally did there wouldn’t be an issue. But he was hovering around and kept making snarky comments. Liam just wanted to hang out with his friends. Not have Theo breathing down his neck and setting him on edge.

  
“Then why don’t you play if you’re so high and mighty,” Liam snapped. He looked back at Theo.

  
His smirk spread into a grin and his eyes crinkled. Liam rolled his eyes, expecting Theo to turn it down but Theo just walked around the couch and flopped down beside Liam. He took the controller from Liam’s hand and grinned again at Liam. Liam mentally facepalmed. Idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First actual chapter, hope y’all like it :)


	3. Pineapple Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam's confused about everything and Stiles might strangle Theo by the end of the night

Liam was not opposed to Stiles' strangling Theo over Mario Kart.

Liam was regretting challenging Theo to play, well he regretted it the second the words spilled from his mouth, but he regretted it more now. He was more worried about how Stiles looked on the verge of murder more than being squished against Theo. Their shoulders and knees knocked together when Scott had to dodge Stiles' limbs and Theo had to move to give Scott room. Liam would admit, begrudgingly so, that Theo was pretty good at Mario Kart, he vaguely remembers Stiles mentioning how they used to play together all the time before middle school. His tone had implied annoyance at Theo’s cruel methods of winning but Liam’s pretty sure Stiles actually missed the old Theo only he and Scott had experienced. 

Stiles cursed under his breath and Theo let loose a deep chuckle. Liam was glad Scott was between the pair otherwise Stiles might be using this controller to beat Theo instead of playing rainbow road. It was only ten minutes into the game when Stiles started cursing, some things Liam had never even heard and had him wondering what sort of things Stiles spent doing in his spare time that led him to say such things. Liam watched Theo from the corner of his eye. His tongue was poking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on beating Stiles.

Liam glanced down to where their knees were smashed together, still in the same spot from when Scott had last ducked to avoid a deadly collision and potential concussion from Stiles’ flailing limbs and controller. Liam snorted as Stiles exclaimed loudly. 

“ _ Motherfu _ -“ Stiles snarled, a red shell hitting him, unaware of his own limbs as they nearly caused another possible traumatic brain injury to Scott, who just leaned back to dodge Stiles. 

“Is Kira still running late?” Scott questioned, wary of trying to pass Stiles in the game if it meant injury from the other teen.

Lydia spoke up, her eyes glued to Scott’s commandeered phone. “She said she’s on the way.” 

“We could have just had her pick up pizza instead of Scott and Stiles damaging my body,” Liam grumbled. He raised an eyebrow when Theo snorted.

He turned his head slightly to look at Theo, his tongue was no longer sticking out but his brows were furrowed as Theo put all his focus into beating Stiles in Mario Kart. Liam hoped he would leave once he beat the round they were playing and Liam could relax enough to play without the thought of being criticized by Theo. He studied Theo’s features searching for the answer to a question Liam even didn’t know.

Liam was caught off guard when Theo suddenly turned his head to look at Liam. Liam blinked and his eyes widened and he quickly looked away. He expected Theo to make fun of his or make a snarky comment. When Theo didn’t say anything Liam looked back. Theo’s attention was back to the tv screen, Stiles’ curses one again making an appearance. Liam frowned at his lap, where his knee was  _ still _ pressed against Theo’s. 

Liam was too busy frowning at his knee to notice the knock at the door until Kira’s voice was spilling into the living room. He tore his gaze away and to where Kira was standing, she smiled at him and Liam grinned back at his friend. He was distracted when Theo’s weight was once again pushed into his own body. Liam huffed and leaned away towards the couch armrest. He ended up catching Lydia’s eye line, she raised an eyebrow and smiled. Liam found that to some degree it unsettled him. He had no clue as to why, but he had the feeling Lydia knew more than him about something Liam was no doubt oblivious to. He knitted his eyebrows together at her but she just shook her head with a smile. Liam startled when the doorbell rang, it caused him to fall away from the armrest and back against Theo. Lydia stood from the couch and walked past the side table to grab her purse, finally giving Scott his phone back after it’s prolonged captivity. Scott thanked her and Lydia smiled at him before answering the door.

Liam was glad the pizza had come, he figured it meant Theo would finally be on his way. But when They all crowded around the kitchen island with plates to eat, eating in the living room had been banned after an incident involving Stiles and too much pasta sauce and the brand new rug, Theo was still there. Liam watched the blonde in confusion, he’d never stuck around this long before, typically he ditched their group to go hide in his room when Stiles opened his mouth to talk. But Theo was still there, standing beside Stiles with a piece of pizza in his hand, arguing over something Liam didn’t understand involving what Liam is pretty sure Stiles called Ewoks. Liam looked down at the pizza in his hand lost in thought when Lydia sidled up beside him. Liam almost dropped his pizza, managed to catch it some weird act of luck only to knock over the glass of soda he had placed beside his elbow as he leaned against the counter. Liam yelped as soda spilled down the back of his shirt. Lydia was quick to right the cup to stop further spilling but it was too late to save Liam’s shirt. 

“And you guys call  _ me _ the clumsy one,” Stiles grumbled around a bite of pizza, eyebrows raised in an attempt to meet his hairline when Lydia shot him a glare. 

“Scott get some paper towels,” Lydia ordered, she looked back to Liam as Scott fumbled around to put his pizza down and follow Lydia’s request. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Liam shook his head and set his rescued pizza down on the paper plate he had set on the island. “Don’t worry about it,” Liam smiled but grimaced when he felt soda roll down his back. 

“Here,” Scott handed Lydia a roll of paper towels. 

Lydia helped Liam clean up the spilled soda, trying to help as best as she could to try and clean his shirt to no avail. Liam sighed. It wasn’t his favorite shirt, but there would definitely be a stain. He’d ruined many shirts over the years, though typically it was because he happened to be sitting next to Stiles, he decided if they were hanging out at Scott’s he should be the one to sit next to Stiles. He had fresh clothes and a washer and dryer for convenience. Liam, on the other hand, would have to sit with the uncomfortably sticky shirt.

“That’s going to stain,” Lydia sighed, plucking at the hem of his shirt.

“It’s fine,” Liam assured Lydia, she looked slightly guilty at having scared Liam into spilling the soda, “it’s not like I don’t have other shirts.”

“Here.”

Liam was hit in the face with some ball of cloth, he opened his eyes and looked down at the material. He quickly realized that the item was a hoodie and the person who had thrown it ha been Theo. Liam’s eyebrows raised in surprise and he looked up at Theo. The very hoodie Theo had just been wearing, the shed item left him in a loose t-shirt.

“Lydia said it’d stain, you can wash your shirt,” Theo said with a shrug. Liam watched his face as something passed across it before disappearing and Liam was left even more confused than before.

“I’ll go put it into the wash,” Scott said, smile splayed across his face as he reached his hand out to take Liam’s shirt he had yet to take off.

Liam sighed and stripped the shirt off to toss to Scott, his hesitation was short-lived when Stiles let out a wolf whistle and Liam quickly pulled the hoodie on. He and Theo were about the same size so the hoodie fit fine, he kept the hood pulled up in an attempt to hide his face as Stiles cackled at him. He eventually laughed too hard a swallowed a chunk of pineapple and started hacking to dislodge it from his throat. Liam didn’t feel too bad for him, he hid his grin behind his pizza as he picked it up to take a bite.

“This is why pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza,” Theo said with a grin as he watched Stiles choke.


	4. Horror Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam hates horror movies and contemplates the possibility of getting kidnapped or murdered

Malia leaned over and thumped a hand on Stiles’ back to help him. Stiles coughed until he dislodged the chunk of pineapple. Stiles flipped Theo off as he gasped to breathe. Liam watched with amusement and ate his pizza. Theo flipped off Stiles back and grabbed another slice of pizza. Malia rolled her eyes and went back to discussing with Kira. Lydia was still close beside Liam and he remembered she had come over with a purpose, but then again Lydia always did things with a purpose. He looked over at Lydia, she was watching Stiles and Theo argue about pizza toppings. Liam glanced back at the pair, Theo leaned up against the counter, his pizza abandoned on the cutting board as he used both hands to talk to Stiles, both making gestures and their voices rising. Liam smiled when Stiles’ arm and hand waving got wilder. Liam knew Theo liked to argue with Stiles, he was the only one that didn’t back down and liked to push Stiles’ buttons and make him frustrated enough to quit fighting. 

Liam turned his attention back to Lydia, “What’s up?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “I could ask the same thing,” she smiled. 

He decided Lydia was probably the most cryptic person he knew, other than Derek Hale. He still had no clue how Scott and Stiles had become acquainted with him but he was around more often than not, he spent time with both the adults and their little group of friends. Liam didn’t know someone could communicate through half grunts and angry eyebrows, that was until he met Derek. But Lydia definitely was more cryptic whereas Derek was just a mystery of a grumpy man. 

“I’m going to pretend I know what that tone means,” Liam said. Lydia laughed quietly, at him, or in general Liam was unclear of. He had a feeling it was him. She laughed at his confusion pretty regularly. Liam decided a subject change would do him good in avoiding Lydia’s question.

“Am I ever going to know how Stiles and Scott met Derek?” 

Lydia looked at him in confusion before smiling, her eyes shining as if she knew something else Liam didn’t get, but knowing Lydia she probably did. 

“I don’t know why they refuse to tell you it’s simple really.” 

Stiles cut in, his previous argument ended abruptly as he turned his body away from Theo. “Uh, no. You can’t tell him.”

“The sheriff got a call about a body in the woods,” Lydia said, despite Stiles’ gasp of shock and horror as if she had betrayed him. “Stiles decided to go look for it and enlisted Scott’s help.”

“Lydia,” Stiles whined, he stuck his bottom lip out as he pouted at the redhead. 

Lydia ignored Stiles’ whining and rolled her eyes. “They accidentally stumbled onto the old Hale property.”

Liam was too interested in the story to find Stiles’ face funny. “So you met Derek while looking for a dead body?”

“They did,” Theo piped up from across the kitchen, Liam looked in his direction briefly, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the conversation, with what Liam assumed was boredom and mild amusement at Stiles’ expense.

“Lydia, you ruined the mystery.” Stiles huffed.

Liam tried not to roll his eyes at the childish behavior. “Pretty sure Derek is already enough of a mystery.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Stiles sighed. 

Liam cheered mentally as he had successfully avoided Lydia’s question. His self-praise didn't last long, Scott came back into the kitchen with a question on his tongue.

“Theo, you want to join us for a movie?” 

Liam nearly gave himself whiplash when he turned his head to look at Scott. So yeah maybe it wasn’t that unusual to ask your brother if he wanted to watch a movie, but Scott never asked Theo when they were over. Liam had to remind himself that while Theo was an asshole, he was still Scott’s brother. He gritted his teeth and watched as he waited to hear Theo’s response. He was hoping Theo would decline. It looked like Theo was going to say no, maybe lady luck would be on his side.

“Yeah sure.”

Lady luck hated him with a passion. Liam frowned to himself and stared at the pizza crust in his hand. This was not good, he couldn’t exactly leave, Stiles was his ride, and his shirt was in the wash. Sure he wasn’t walking around with no shirt on but he wasn’t about to take Theo’s hoodie home. His options were limited to sucking it up, praying they didn’t watch a horror movie, and that he wouldn’t end up next to Theo on the couch again. He ate the last bit of crust he had and reached behind him to down the last bit of soda Lydia had saved from spilling. Liam set the cup back down, his eye caught on Theo’s figure as he stretched his arms over his head. He felt eyes on him, he had a feeling it was Lydia, a quick glance to the side confirmed his suspicions. She had a small upturn to her lips. Liam’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion and he looked away.

“Let’s watch IT,” Theo said, his smile widening when Liam scowled at him. 

Liam wished Stiles had strangled him during Mario Kart. Liam hated horror movies, his friends knew this but didn’t seem to care all that much seeing as how often they ended up watching them. What he hated more was how often Theo scared him during said movies. Liam huffed, he moved to the kitchen island and dug through the bag of snacks Kira had brought with her. 

“Oh yes,” Stiles said cheerily. “That’s the only good thing you've said all night.” 

Liam was pretty sure if he looked up he would catch Theo rolling his eyes at Stiles. “Can’t we watch something else?” Liam pleaded, he raised his head to watch Stiles.

“Hey hey hey,” Stiles said, arms waving. “You got to veto the last horror movie. We’re watching this one.

Liam groaned. He was having terrible luck. He just needed to sit between Scott and Stiles so he wasn’t next to Theo. Liam spotted a box of lemon heads, the thought of Stiles calling Derek a sour wolf any chance he got popping into his head briefly. He wrangled the box free from the bag, the edges of it nearly tearing a hole in the thin material. Once the box was in his hands he marched past Lydia to the living room where he flopped onto the couch.

“Fine but let’s get it over with,” he said. “And you’re not allowed to laugh at me like last time!” 

He heard Stiles’ cackle before it was cut off by an unseen person or thing, but the ow Stiles gave made Liam think it was a person. Liam waited as they all dug through the snack back before they joined him. Liam saw Theo first, nearly caught his line of sight on accident, and then turned back around. Theo sat down beside him in a dramatic flop that almost made Liam laugh if he wasn’t confused as to why Theo chose to sit next to him if the other seats were all vacant. He then became worried, while his friends weren’t likely to laugh at him after he asked, Theo probably would, Liam supposed that’s why he sat down next to him, Theo just wanted to make fun of him even more than normal. Liam picked at the box in his hands and ignored the heat Theo’s body just seemed to just give off.

“What level of commentary and critiques am I allowed to give?” Stiles asked.

“Only one level,” Lydia said, sitting down in the love seat. “Which is none.” 

He sat beside Lydia and she plopped her feet down into his lap. Liam eyed them then eyed where Theo was sitting pretty close to him. Scott and Kira joined Theo and him while Malia sat in the sole armchair. Scott grabbed the remote and turned the tv back on after it had been turned off when the pizza had arrived. Mario Kart came to life for a second before Scott switched over to Amazon so he could rent their decided movie. Liam looks at the looming title and leans against the couch armrest. Liam contemplated walking home, he was over at Scott’s often enough it wouldn’t be hard to return Theo’s hoodie at another date and time.

But he also lived in Beacon Hills so the chances of surviving the two and a half mile walk he’d have to make was very low. Liam opened his box of lemon heads and poured a few into his hand and tossed them into his mouth. He almost choked when he swallowed wrong in surprise at the sudden darkness in the room as Malia hit the light switch.

“You good there?” Theo asked.

Liam could only see part of his face that was illuminated by the tv as the opening logos played. He couldn’t tell if Theo was being genuine or not, his attitude was usually zero fucks given. Liam figured he just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t have to save him if he choked on a small piece of candy. Although he didn’t exactly jump in to help Stiles out, so maybe he’d just let Liam choke after all.

“Liam?” Theo’s shoulders moved, turning Theo more to face Liam. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure? You s-”

“Theo, I make the comments here.”

“Yeah yeah,” Theo grumbled and faced back towards the tv.

Liam studied the side of his face, he found it more interesting than the movie that was no doubt going to scare him and give him weird creepy clown nightmares. Despite his intentions to not focus on the movie he grew interested in the plot. He listens slightly to Stiles’ comments about going into basements in horror movies. He cringed when Georgie fell and Pennywise came into frame. He yelped as suddenly Georgie was attacked. He heard Malia snicker lightly and frowned. It’s not like he wanted to watch a horror movie. The movie continued and Liam watched, but the first jump scare made him yelp again and clench his eyes shut. The next jump scare he nearly tossed his box of lemon heads so he decided to set them down on the coffee table to avoid Melissa’s potential rage if he spilled small candy in every crevice of the couch.

He ended up leaning against Theo at the third jump scare, too scared to care about his dignity. Liam used Theo as a shield to block out the movie. Halfway through the movie, about twenty minutes after Liam had given up and fully leaned against Theo. Theo moved his arm to the back of the couch and Liam fell against him at the sudden move. Theo didn’t say anything much to Liam’s surprise so he stayed still. Liam didn’t care if he hated Theo, he was going to use him as a shield. And so what if Theo was warm, Liam was more focused on the fact that every jump scare had him cringing. Stiles had disappeared to the kitchen at one point, Liam was just about to start worrying about him.

“Boo,” Stiles whispered right behind Liam’s head.

Liam screamed. He ducked his head down and hid his face in Theo’s bicep, his shame had gone out the window twenty minutes prior. Stiles laughed behind the couch, pleased with his own jump scare on Liam. Theo’s arm curled around slowly around his shoulders. Liam just cowered against his side.

“Don’t be a dick Stiles,” Theo chided.

“Dude, you scare him all the time.”

“You guys are being too loud,” Malia huffed.

Stiles scoffed and Liam heard him stomp away to sit back with Lydia. He lifted his face up but Theo’s arm stayed around his shoulders. Liam looked across the room and scowled at Stiles. The other teen didn’t even see him but it was the thought of it that counted. Liam just wanted the movie to be over. Of course, he’d just go home, freak out about possible clowns, research murderous clowns and then pass out from exhaustion. He hated horror movies because where they lived had some pretty weird things happen, so he wasn’t sure that what happened in one of the many horror movies they watched couldn’t happen to him.

Theo’s arm tightened momentarily and Liam glanced at his face then to the tv, when he noticed pennywise and guessed Theo had tightened his arm in warning. Liam used Theo to block out most of the ending. If he didn’t see it happen he couldn’t think about it later. The movie ended with a blood pact the made Liam worry about diseases because they were just in a sewer with dead bodies so who knew what they had been touching. Stiles gave a brief scathing review, and then Scott started  _ another _ horror movie, this one about dolls. 

Liam wondered how far home he could make it before he got murdered or kidnapped. 


	5. Ice Cream and Star Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam escapes from watching horror movies and makes a new friend

Liam had turned his whole body to the side and curled his legs up so he was tucked up on the couch, safe from the potential terror of demon dolls. Theo’s arm was still around his shoulder, Liam found it oddly comforting despite his strong dislike of the other teen. “Why did we have to watch another horror movie?”

“Liam, dude,” Stiles sighed. “No more complaints, you’re not even watching the movie.”

Liam buried his face into the couch cushion as a scream rang out across the room. “Yeah, I wonder why.” 

“I can take you home,” Theo mumbled, not risking talking loud enough for Malia to hear and tell them off again. Malia was scary in a different way than Lydia was, Malia wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and hit you.

Liam lifted his head and squinted at Theo. He looked for any hint of evil in Theo’s face, and the offer. Theo’s face was blank as far as he could tell, no hidden intentions that Liam could see. It seemed, as though, Theo was making an actual offer. Liam trusted him about as much as he trusted the Jeep, which was less reliable than a schizophrenic on heroin. So Liam was hesitant to accept the offer, while his distrust in Theo was obvious and an ever heavy presence in the back of his brain, his dislike of horror movies was much stronger than the rational part of his brain. 

“Yes please,” Liam slid from the couch, nearly brained himself on the coffee table tripping over Theo’s leg and the fact that he caught his balance and didn’t die was an amazing feat in itself. 

“Careful,” Theo stuck an arm out to help steady Liam, Theo’s hand on his arm, ”thought you were quick with your reflexes, not more clumsy than Stiles.”

“Hey fuck you man,” Stiles said.

Liam scowled at Theo and shook free from his grasp, doubt, and regret simmered in the pit of his stomach. But Liam never backed down once he said something. He walked around the side of the couch and huffed in annoyance at Theo, who leisurely took his time to get up from the couch and follow after Liam.

“Where are you two going?” Lydia asked. Liam glanced at her, it was dark but he could swear she had a smile playing on her lips.

“Yeah man we just started another movie,” Scott said, his head turned to look at Liam.

“I’m taking the scaredy-cat home,” Theo snorted.   
Liam flipped Theo off and sulked to the door where he had kicked his shoes off, he slid them back on. He turned around to watch Theo as he grabbed his keys from the dish on the small table near the entryway. He stopped to grab a jean jacket from the coat rack and slid it on. 

“Liam call me if he tries to kill you!” Stiles called out, he soon yelped as Lydia no doubt put her elbow in his ribcage.

“I’m not going to kill him, he was going to get scared to death by evil dolls first.” Theo laughed when Liam flipped him off again.

Theo opened the door, Liam followed him out onto the porch and shivered slightly. Theo shut and locked the door before he trudged down the front porch steps. Liam trailed after Theo to the truck parked in front of the house. Theo rounded the truck to the driver's side and Liam climbed into the truck when he heard Theo unlock the door. He buckled his seatbelt as the engine came to life. He was unaware that Theo had no regard for personal safety when he watched Theo buckle his seatbelt one-handed as he had already driven away from the pavement. Liam clutched to the seat belt strap across his chest, he felt grabbing the actual safety handle above his head would make Theo laugh at him. He just had to survive the drive to his house. 

“I think your shirt was in the dryer.” 

Liam startled from his thoughts. “What?”

Theo scoffed and Liam knew he rolled his eyes. “Your shirt. That you spilled soda all over?”

Liam thought about unlocking the passenger door and throwing himself from the car. “Oh, uh right.” He started to think willingly getting into a car with Theo wasn’t the best idea.

He turned his attention to the street they were driving down, Theo missed the turn to take at the block they were on to get to his house. His brows furrowed in confusion. “Theo you missed the turn.”

“We’re not going to your house,” Theo said, in a tone Liam imagined a murderer would. Maybe he should call Stiles because he felt like Theo actually was going to kill him. 

Theo snorted when he glanced at Liam and saw his face. “I’m not kidnapping you, don’t worry. We’re going to get ice cream.”

“Ice cream,” Liam said duly. 

“Or we could just go to your house and you can sit in the dark and think about clowns and possessed dolls.”

Liam's voice went high pitched. “Ice cream sounds good.”

Theo smirked and Liam saw it from the corner of his eye. While Liam wasn’t one to turn down ice cream, going with Theo wasn’t his first choice. His wallet also happened to be on his desk at home.

“I don’t have any money on me,” he admitted only a little guiltily.

“I’ll pay.”

They sat in silence, Liam didn’t want to try the radio in fear of Theo smacking him. Liam contemplated texting Stiles to tell him he wasn't going straight home, but he had a feeling Stiles would call Theo and demand he turn around and bring Liam safely home. And now that it had been mentioned, he was totally down for some free ice cream. The company was definitely not Liam’s choice but he wasn’t about to stay and watch a creepy doll movie. He didn’t know how much longer he could last sitting in silence when he was used to driving with his friends. 

“Do you really hate horror movies that much?” Theo questioned.

“Yes,” Liam said. “So much.”

“Why?”

Liam bit the inside of his cheek. “One time when me and Mason were like ten, he made me watch a horror movie and I had nightmares for weeks. I’m still traumatized.”

“What movie?”

Liam sighed. He mumbled under his breath. 

“What was that?”

“Poltergeist.”

Theo barked out a laugh. “The 1982 film?”

Liam crossed his arms, “Yeah.”

“Oh my god.” Theo was still laughing.

“ I was like ten! It was scary at the time.”

“That movie looks so fake, how were you sacred?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Okay I’m sorry.”

Liam squinted at Theo. “I don’t think that was sincere.”

“I said I was sorry. And I’m buying you ice cream.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Liam huffed and looked out the window as they arrived at their destination. Liam was grateful because Theo was a dick, and Liam wanted ice cream. Theo parked and Liam left the truck, nearly rolling his ankle in the process. He was lucky Theo didn’t see otherwise Liam was sure he’d laugh. They walked to the ice cream parlor five feet apart. Liam was only in it for free ice cream. Theo reached the door first and held it open for Liam. Theo smirked at him but Liam just scowled. The ice cream parlor was mostly empty, much to his surprise considering it was a Friday night.

“Not a lot of people come here.”

Well that solved the mystery. 

“What’s your favorite flavor?” Theo asked.

“I like most ice cream, I don’t have one favorite.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Well what’s a top contender?”

Liam thought for a moment. “Rocky road. What about you?”

“Mint chip.”

“Makes sense, that's the asshole flavor,” Liam said with a nod.

“What,” Theo scoffed and his body turned to face Liam, “why?”

“Because it’s like cool spicy.”

“Are you calling me cool, or spicy?”

“Neither, I’m calling you an asshole.”

“I feel like equating me to cool and spicy has the exact opposite effect of what you wanted.”

“Well it’s cold.”

“So is all ice cream, hence the ice in the title.”

“Okay listen here you-”

“Are you two ready to order?”

Liam and Theo both turned to the young teen standing behind the counter, looking so uninterested Liam was worried she’d die of boredom. She looked extremely judgmental but Liam thought everyone who worked in any form of the food industry looked like that.

“Uh yeah,” Theo moved closer to the counter and eyed the line of ice cream containers. “I’ll get a single scoop of mint chip, Liam what do you want?”

“I’ll have a double scoop of rocky road.”

The girl went about their order, and Theo extracted his wallet from the pocket of his jeans. She handed them their cones and Theo paid her the amount needed and waited for his change, which only included some dimes and nickels and he dumped them into the tip jar. Liam followed him to a booth in the corner and flopped into one side and Theo slid in across from him.

“So do you hate all horror movies on principle or?”

“Are you really still on this?”

“Yes,” Theo took a bite of his ice cream, and Liam was appalled.

“Did you-” 

“What?”

“Did you really just  _ bite _ your ice cream?”

“Yes.”

“You heathen.”

“I can bite my ice cream if I want.”

“No, you’re not supposed to bite ice cream.”

“Liam I can eat it how I want.”

“You’re doing it the wrong way.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Well, you’re a dick.”

“You’ve said.”

“Why did I leave the house with you?”

“Because you’re scared of dolls.”

“I hate you.”

Theo frowned for a moment and Liam was starting to worry that maybe he had hurt Theo’s feelings. But he grinned a second later.

“Even after I bought you ice cream?”

Liam narrowed his eyes at Theo and ignored the question. He ate his ice cream the  _ proper  _ way. They didn’t talk, which Liam didn’t like, Theo, he admitted begrudgingly so, wasn’t the worst company to have.

“Why do you like horror movies so much?”

Theo looked up with an eyebrow raised. “I never said I liked horror movies.”

“Then why were you so offended by me hating them?”

“I just wanted to know why you hated them so much.”

Liam blinked in confusion.

“But why?”

Theo looked away and shrugged. “Just curious.”

Liam was confused but decided to push it away and move on.

“Well what’s your favorite movie then?”

“Star Wars.”

“You’re kidding.”

Theo scoffed. “No, Star Wars is amazing.”

“Never seen it.”

Theo made a noise Liam didn’t think was possible for a human being to make. “How are you friends with Stiles, and you’ve never seen Star Wars?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem all it’s cracked up to be.”

Theo’s mouth fell open and Liam’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“And you tell me I’m wrong for biting ice cream.”

“You  _ are _ .”

“You have seriously never seen Star Wars?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “No I have not.”

“You’re uncultured.” 

“What’s so great about Star Wars?’

Liam wasn’t expecting Theo to go into a ten-minute rant at such a simple question. But by the end of it Liam thought Theo’s ice cream was going to melt if he didn’t eat it. 

“Stiles and I used to rewatch the original trilogy all the time.”

“Original trilogy? Don’t they just all have the same story, you know with that dark fader guy. ”

“First of all it’s Darth Vader. Were you even listening to a word I said.”

“Listening yes, understanding, no.”

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. Liam awaited the inevitable explanation he was about to get.

“Why do you like them so much?”

Theo looked at the table and shrugged. “Like I said, Stiles and I would rewatch them all the time. On the twenty-year anniversary of Return of the Jedi, the movie theater was doing a marathon of the original three movies. I was eight, it was a couple of months after my parents and Tara died. Melissa took me, Scott and Stiles, to go. They had up the old original movie poster, and I don’t remember what I said, but Melissa decided to try and get it for me. I think she must have said something about my parents because they let us take it home, and it was the first thing I put up in my new room.”

Liam didn’t know what he was expecting, but what Theo had just said certainly wasn’t it. He knew about Theo’s family, but they had never been brought up in detail. And as long as he had known Scott, Theo had been a permanent resident and family member. He was his best friend's brother, but Liam didn’t really know that much about him. He knew Theo had lost his parents, he knew he had lived with the McCall’s since he was eight, he knew Theo was an asshole, who liked to make fun of him. But Liam looked from the ice cream in his hand to Theo who looked a little too emotionally open for an asshole. 

“Well, I guess I need to watch them, do you own them?”

Theo blinked in confusion for a moment. Then a smile, not Theo’s usual smirk or grin, spread across his face. “Yeah I own them. You can borrow them if you want.”

Liam hesitated but decided maybe Theo wasn’t as much of a jerk as he thought. “Or we could watch them together? If you want. I won’t understand anything at all and I’d probably end up calling you with questions anyway.”

Theo just stared at him. Liam panicked slightly because Theo was just looking at him and he didn’t know if Theo thought he was crazy or not. Maybe Theo didn’t want to hang out and Liam was just an idiot.

“Yeah okay,” Theo said softly. “When are you free?”

Liam checked the time on his phone, it was only eight-thirty and Liam didn’t want to go home and sit in the dark and think about clowns or evil dolls. He also more often than not slept over at Scott’s without meaning to. He typically just passed out. Sp his mom and stepdad usually used the free night as date night, and Liam didn’t want to walk into something he wasn’t meant to see. “It’s still early, we could watch one tonight?”

“You realize we just left my house because I was taking you home, and you want to go back, not to hang out with your friends, but to watch a movie with me, Stiles would hold a grudge against you until he dies if he knew you were watching Star Wars without him.”

“You could have just said no.” He mumbled. He finished off his ice cream and watched Theo do the same.

“Come on, I can sneak you in through my window, they won’t notice.”

“That implies climbing,” Liam huffed.

“Oh yeah Dunbar, you have to work to earn my company.”

Theo ducked out of the booth and Liam smiled at his back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They headed back to the truck and argued over how Liam was going to climb up to the window. Theo ended up boosting Liam up, while both of them tried not to laugh loud enough for anyone to hear, he got up on the roof and waited for Theo to go around to the front door, and make his way to his room. Liam almost fell off the roof when Theo knocked on the glass of the window. Theo opened the window and Liam tumbled into the room. Theo shushed him and Liam tossed him a dry look.

Liam looked around the room, the poster Theo had been talking about was on one wall. A desk was under it and there were piles of books on it, haphazardly stacked in a way that reminded Liam of an extreme game of Jenga. Next to the desk was a bookshelf overflowing with books. Liam, still on the floor, leaned back on his elbows, and turned his head to the other side of the room. There was a tv on top of another bookshelf, that was being used as a half DVD and book storage device. There weren't very many other personal items, other than the poster.

“Okay, so what’s the first movie?”

“Well we could start with the original three or start with the prequels.”

“Huh?”

Theo sighed and bent over to dig through his collection of movies. Liam rolled over and stood up. Theo’s bed was against one wall, with an absurd amount of pillows forming a half u shape against the wall. It looked comfy, and he wondered why he only had one pillow on his bed when he could have several that looked super comfy.

“You have a lot of pillows.”

“I like pillows. Okay, we’re starting with episode four.”

“What, why are we starting with the fourth movie?”

“It’s not actually the fourth movie. It’s the first but it’s called the fourth.”

“What the actual fuck is Star Wars?”

Theo chuckled. “It’ll make more sense in a bit.”

Liam sat on the edge of Theo’s bed. Theo set up the movie and reached over to hit the light switch. The room went dark before the tv lit up, Liam squinted for a second, and he felt the bed dip as Theo sat down next to him and leaned against the wall his bed was pushed against. Liam watched the words scroll up the screen and Theo started reading them, Liam realized maybe they were important to read. The movie started and Liam was sucked into the plot, he asked Theo a few questions but for the most part, he just watched. His attention pulled to Theo, who, saying most of the lines word for word, was geeking out. Liam smiled, maybe getting to know Theo wasn’t so bad. Sure he was kind of an asshole, but he seemed almost friendly. 

And Liam had just asked him to watch a movie after they got ice cream and proceeded to crawl in through his window. So Liam supposed they were not friends, but acquaintances, verging on maybe friendship. Liam startled so hard when there was a knock on the door he smashed his head against the wall. He yelped again when Theo shoved him off the end of the bed so the bed hid him from the view of whoever was at the door. Theo paused the movie and went to the door to crack it open.

“Theo, I just got a call from Jamie next door, she said someone climbed in your window?” Melissa said.

“I think Jamie is seeing things,” Theo concluded, about to close the door.

“So that isn’t Liam on the floor then.”

Liam cringed and popped his head up to see Melissa with an eyebrow raised and her body mostly blocked by Theo in the doorway. “Hey Melissa.”

“Hi Liam,” she smiled. “Scott said Theo took you home.”

“I was going to,” Theo said. “But we stopped for ice cream and then we started talking about Star Wars.”

“Theo eats his ice cream the wrong way.”

“He’s mad I bite my ice cream,” Theo sighed.

“What’s wrong with biting ice cream?” Melissa asked.

Liam gasped. “You’re one of them.”

“You’re an idiot,” Theo huffed, moving out of the way to give Liam an unobstructed view of Melissa. 

“You bite ice cream and I’m the idiot?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” Melissa cut in, “so how did you end up back here?”

“He’s never seen Star Wars.”

Melissa’s eyebrows pinched together. “You’re friends with Stiles and you’ve never seen Star Wars?”

“That’s what I said,” Theo looked over his shoulder to grin at Liam.

Liam rolled his eyes. “We came back to watch Star Wars.”

“So you climbed in through the window?”

“Yes, I didn’t want to risk Stiles’ wrath,” Theo grumbled.

Melissa smiled. “Valid, you might want to get some ice for Liam, it sounded like he hit something pretty hard.”

“Yeah Theo shoved me off the bed.”

“Theo, you’re not supposed to hurt your guests.”

“Liam’s not a guest,” Theo scoffed. “He’s here more than I am.”

“Well try not to injure him too badly,” Melissa smirked playfully, an upturn of the corner of her mouth, Liam recognized it immediately as the one Theo wore all the time.

“Yeah yeah, he’s fine.”

“Bye boys,” she waved.

“Bye Melissa,” Liam said back as the door shut.

“You hear that? You’re not supposed to hurt your guest Theo.”

Theo reached over and grabbed one of his many pillows and smacked Liam with it. “I don’t remember hearing that.”

Liam rolled to dodge another hit. “This is abuse-” Theo hit him in the face with the pillow.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

Liam pushed the pillow away and scowled. “I will call Stiles up here.”

“Fine, truce.” Theo stuck his hand out and Liam took it. Theo hauled him to his feet. “Let’s finish this movie.” Theo sat back down on his bed and hit play on the remote.

Liam joined him, wary of all the pillows that could be used as weapons at any time. “Is that why you have so many pillows, to destroy your friends in pillow wars?”

“I don’t bring friends up to my room,” Theo said, he shrugged and Liam frowned.

“Well I’m up here.”

“You’re not a friend,” Theo muttered, eyes focussed on the movie.

Liam frowned, something felt wrong about Theo saying that. At the same time, Liam was hesitant, Theo had more or less been bullying him for almost two years now. Bullying was a strong word, it was more like, lightly harass given the opportunity. Theo had been given that opportunity that night many times but didn’t take it, or maybe he was luring Liam into a false sense of security to make fun of him. Although, as much as Liam hated it, that didn’t seem to be Theo’s agenda.

“I think we’re friends, especially after you touched my ass earlier,” Liam grinned at Theo.

“Would you rather me have let you fall from the roof?”

“Are you denying our new friendship? I’m hurt.”

Liam watched Theo roll his eyes. “Fine, I suppose we can be friends.”

“Cool, so as your new best friend-”

Theo hit him again with a pillow. “ _ No _ .”

Liam pouted at Theo. “But Theo,” he whined, “we’re friends now, you touched my ass.”

“We’ve been friends for all of five minutes and I already want to strangle you.”

Liam smiled. “Aw you do care.”

Theo muttered something under his breath too quiet for Liam to hear. But he turned his attention back to the movie. Theo cleared his throat. 

“Did I actually hurt you when I shoved you off the bed?”

Liam shook his head. “I play lacrosse, getting shoved off the bed isn’t going to damage me, I’m fine.” Theo gave him a skeptical look. “Really, I’m okay.”

“If you say so.” 

They lapsed back into silence, the movie recapturing their attention. “Lydia reminds me of Leia. They both don’t take shit from people.”

Theo chuckled. “Yeah I can see that.”

Liam thought of texting Mason before he decided against it, he was on a date, and Mason had been trying to get Liam to watch Star Wars for a long time, but Liam’s faith in Mason’s abilities to pick movies had been diminished after the Poltergeist incident. Maybe checking in to see how the date was going wasn’t a bad idea.

He dug his phone free from his pocket and sent a text to Mason.

_ To Mason: How’s the date _

He waited a few minutes, watched as the group almost got smashed by a trash compactor. His phone buzzed with a response. There was a picture of Corey sitting across from Mason in a diner. Corey had a shy smile on his face.

_ From Mason: Great, how’s Mario Kart going? _

_ To Mason: Stiles almost committed a crime _

_ From Mason: That’s not surprising. _

Liam took a quick picture smiling with a thumbs up to send to Mason. The mattress shifted and Liam looked up at Theo. “What are you doing?” Theo questioned.

“I wanted to ask how Mason’s date was going.” He clicked on the picture Mason had sent of Corey and showed it to Theo. 

“Huh. I didn't know Corey was going out with Mason.” 

Liam’s phone buzzed again. 

_ From Mason: Is it too soon to want to marry this boy? _

_ To Mason: Don’t get eloped _

_ From Mason: No promises, ;) _

Liam clicked his phone off and realized the movie had been paused. He looked at Theo as he stood from the bed. “Want anything to drink?”

Liam shook his head. “Nah.”

“I’ll be right back,” Theo said. 

Theo left the room and Liam decided to investigate the books Theo had everywhere. He went over to Theo’s desk first. Upon further investigation, he found that most of the books were about science in one form or another. The bookshelf held mostly science books as well, Liam didn’t know Theo was that into science. Theo didn’t have very many movies other than Star Wars. Liam was in the middle of reading the intro to a random science book when the door opened.

“What are you doing?”

Liam looked up at Theo. “Reading.”

“You can read? I didn’t know that.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Haha, funny.”

“I know, I’m hilarious.”

“I didn’t know you liked science.”

Theo’s face lit up, something Liam wasn’t prepared for. To be honest he wasn’t prepared to become such fast friends with Theo in the span of one night after being made fun of by him for so long. Liam’s usual avoidance of Theo was no longer something he could do, not after literally climbing in the other teen’s window after getting ice cream together. But as Theo flopped down on the floor and sat with his legs crossed with a smile stretched across his face as he talked about science with Star Wars paused in the background, Liam didn’t really seem to mind.


End file.
